John Zorn: Magister Artium Gandensis 2011
Sean MurphyI've written a great deal about John Zorn (in some detail here and here, and his name is appropriately dropped and checked in the course of discussions of other jazz musicians,…
R.I.P., Bert Jansch
Sad new from the wire: guitar legend Bert Jansch has passed away (another casualty of The Big C). Story here. My introduction to his work was, presumably like many punks my…
You can have my cassette tape when you pry it from my cold, dead hands…
Well, if we weren't offiicially in the 21st Century yet, we certainly are now. Less than a year after we bid a not-so-fond adieu to the Sony Walkman, now cassettes…
So…what are you listening to?
Check this out: In order to write about music you need to hear it first. In order to hear the music you need to know about it. Sounds simple, and…
If I Could Wave My Magic Wand…(Revisited)
It was twenty years ago today... No, seriously. Twenty years. Fall semester (because the world was still measured in summers and semesters), sophomore year. Out of all the indelible memories…
Preparing for the High Holidays with Pitom
This is pretty cool. Pitom, a band I've raved about at length here and here, has released a new single (and video) in honor of Yom Kippur. The song…
Ranking R.E.M.
Out of respect for the post-Bill Berry content, we won't need to damn the last five efforts with faint praise. Instead, I'll settle on the Top 10, which happen to…
R.E.M.: The Greatest American Band. Ever.
Almost exactly three years ago I tried to settle a question many people had asked me (and that I had asked myself): what is the all-time great American band? The…
Trey Spruance, Super Genius
I used to believe it was one of the minor musical tragedies of the last quarter-century that the great Mr. Bungle could not keep it together. Three spectacular albums (each…
September 18, 1970: God is (still) Not Dead
We lost three big J's, all in just about a year (Janis, Jimi and Jim Morrison). Debates could --and should-- rage about how much Janis and Jim could --and would--…